This invention relates to a method for the library storage of workpiece programs for numerically controlled machine tools in which the workpiece program is first entered into the working storage of the numerical control of a machine by means of a manual input keyboard and is later transferred to an external data carrier for data safekeeping and reuse.
Such a method is described, for instance, in the supplement "Controls and Drives for the Automation of Machine Tools" in Siemens-Zeitschrift, 1973, at pages 20 to 24.
Relatively simple numerical machine tool controls in which the workpiece program is manually put into the control on the machine are well known. It is desirable to make the program thus obtained available at a later time. Thus, methods providing magnetic tapes, punched tapes, etc. for the recording and storage of the program are also known. But the handling of the magnetic memories and the recording and playback equipment in the shop is relatively problematical because possible contamination means that dependable recording and playback cannot be absolutely guaranteed.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple and safe method for archiving the programs of numerically controlled machine tools having manual inputs.